Occasionally when making a connection with TeamViewer, you may encounter only a black screen upon connection. The following information can assist in pinpointing the underlying cause.

This article applies to all TeamViewer users. 

Troubleshooting

A black screen on the remote machine has several causes. Most of the cases, however, are due to the following:

  • the TeamViewer service is not running correctly
  • the connection is to a computer with no monitor
  • the communication of TeamViewer has encountered an interference/block
  • an active RDP (Windows Remote Desktop) is running on the remote side

Please ensure both sides of the connection are updated to the newest release available within your major version. Many times, this can resolve the issue.

In addition, you may try the following:

  • restart the remote PC
  • on Windows, completely close the remote TeamViewer including restarting the TeamViewer service (Start ➜ run ➜ services.msc)

Active RDP session

A black screen appears if there is an active RDP (Windows Remote Desktop) session to the remote computer, with the RDP window currently minimized.

When the RDP window is minimized, the whole desktop is minimized; there is no way for TeamViewer to grab the screen of the remote computer until the RDP window is brought back up.

The following Knowledge Hub article can assist with further troubleshooting:

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